Hang On
by 2theSky
Summary: Sometimes things go wrong on patrol...


**"Let the tempest and the flood shake your soul and spill your blood… Let the people laugh at you, call you names and say you're through. Never let go- keep hangin' on…" -Michael W. Smith "Hang On"**

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><p>Something wasn't right.<p>

First clue?

The world was upside down.

Robin groaned, trying to reach up and grab his head; it was pounding, and the ringing in his ears was driving him crazy. What… what had happened? He felt like he'd gone ten rounds with the Joker…

That was not a good feeling.

At all.

He'd tried getting up, and that failed miserably. Robin could feel a stabbing pain in his ankle, lightning racing up his left wrist, and the rest of his body felt like a mix of fire, pins and needles, and getting hit with a hammer repeatedly. His head hurt so badly that he couldn't even begin to take stock of what was sprained, bruised, cracked, or broken. If he could just get up and get out of… wherever he was… where was he?

Another groan slipped through his bloody and busted lips, this one weaker than the previous. Where was Batman? It was a thing for both Batman and Robin to go on patrol together, so where was the Dark Knight?

Richard shook his head, trying to clear it. Bruce… where was he? What had happened? He tried thinking back to what had led to him being in this situation, not without the pain in his head increasing tenfold. What…

What happened?

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><p>"Are you sure you should've left Richard to patrol Gotham alone, Bruce?"<p>

A glare from Batman had Superman quiet immediately. He was beginning to seriously regret letting the Kryptonian in Gotham to help with this whole scenario. "Yes."

"He's thirteen, Bruce! I know he's qualified, but alone?"

Another glare.

Superman sighed and raised his hands in surrender as they stood outside one of the older warehouses in Gotham, watching through the windows for the perfect time to strike.

This drug bust was big. And Superman was sure Bats hadn't even told him the half of it. He could see the shipments inside, people rushing around with orders, several cars parked inside, all expensive. As they waited, Clark internally sighed. He didn't doubt Robin's skill; he just wanted the kid to be safe.

But this was Gotham.

And it was scary.

He just hoped that Richard was-

"Br-Bruce…"

Superman whirled around, his red cape definitely not blending in with sin-stained Gotham. "Did you say something?" he whispered.

"No."

Superman shook his head, thinking he was imagining it.

"Bruce…"

There it was again! Who was saying that? Clark listened harder as it repeated a third time, then paled.

Richard…

"Br-Batman, we have to leave."

"Why?"

"I heard Robin calling for you..."

Batman didn't look in Clark's direction yet, until…

"… by your real name."

Batman looked up quickly and as he went to say something, his glare and frown now gone, six cop cars pushed up, sirens blaring and lights flashing like crazy. He yelled over the noise, "Let's go! They'll handle it," and rushed off, wondering what was wrong.

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><p>Robin sighed. He kept trying to piece together what had gone so wrong that he felt like total and complete crap. He'd tried standing, but failed every time.<p>

So now he was thinking…

It started with a mugging, the fifth one that night…

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><p>…<p>

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><p><strong>Young couple huddled in an alley.<strong>

**Four muggers, all packing knives or guns.**

**And all of them were unaware that the Boy Wonder was about to jump out of the window of the abandoned apartment building towering over them.**

**"Please," the woman cried, her face buried in her husband's chest, tears falling quickly from her brown eyes and soaking her green dress and black coat. "My husband and I don't have anything of value-"**

**One of the muggers stormed over and shoved her off her husband, throwing her to the ground. Her husband lunged at him, only to be punched in the stomach and his pockets raided. A worn brown wallet was pulled out and the mugger, a mask covering his face- as well as his companions- went through it, throwing it to the ground when there was only a five inside. And the woman didn't have a purse.**

**Robin decided it was time to make an appearance, and dropped in just as the one mugger pulled out his gun. Richard landed squarely on his shoulders, sending him to the ground as a cushion for his fall; in the process, he grabbed up the man's wallet, which was now soaked from a mysterious puddle of sludge. As he tried to stand, Robin kicked him in the jaw, letting him collapse in a heap. One down, three to go.**

**"Hey, it's Bat's kid!"**

**Robin rolled his eyes and struck out at the mugger who spoke, dodging the switch blade which was pulled out and promptly kicked from the mugger's hands. "Get my name right," he snapped, punching him in the face and letting him fall.**

**As the other two charged, Richard spun around towards the couple and yelled, "Run!" They stood dazed for a minute from fright, but quickly snapped back to reality and ran, Robin tossing the man his wallet in the process. He went to punch one of the two new attackers-**

**and felt a stabbing pain in his side.**

**Richard quickly berated himself for forgetting about his injury from last night; an entirely different mugger (Gotham was full of them…) had gotten lucky and managed to get a nasty stab wound in. The right side of his chest was now stitched up- courtesy of Alfred, of course- but it hurt when strained.**

**And right now?**

**This was definitely strain.**

**The two muggers noticed his wince and took advantage of it. Before Robin could think he was kicked in the gut and punched in the face; he couldn't tell which came first. And then the one mugger decided to abandon his knife, instead cracking his knuckles and lighting into him as Robin hit the ground, the pain washing through the entire right side of his body, partially paralyzing him. He bit back any sound of pain whenever a punch came, throwing one or two of his own when he could, and hoped and prayed the couple had made it out of the alley and far enough away.**

**He wasn't sure how much time had passed, but finally the mugger stopped, standing up over him, along with his friend-**

**and the other two Robin had knocked out.**

**"S-so not feeling the aster right now," he mumbled, knowing that this would not go well. In what world did four muggers standing over someone who was almost unconscious ever go well?!**

**"Well, well, well," one of them scoffed, kicking Richard in the side. Thankfully the left side. "Bat's little brat is too tired to fight. Shouldn't be up past your bedtime, kid. You could get hurt."**

**The other three chuckled, one grabbing up his switch blade from where he'd dropped it, only to put it back in his coat. The cold November air was starting to finally get to Robin, and he shivered. He was brought back to the fact that the muggers were still, unfortunately, there, one kicking him… right where the stitches were. That finally proved a response from the injured Boy Wonder, a whimper slipping through his lips. He felt pathetic. Bruce was going to have a fit-**

**Bruce!**

**Oh, great… as the four crooks laughed at his misery, Robin wondered how he was going to get back to the Batcave, let alone out of the alley. He knew the zeta beam was too far to walk to… or crawl to.**

**Things started to spin, and Robin could feel the breath of one of the muggers close to his face. He cringed; his breath was a horrible combination of beer and dinner and cigarette smoke. Lovely.**

**He heard a distant, "Sleep tight, brat," and a fist, yet again, connected with his already bruised jaw, knocking him unconscious.**

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><p>…<p>

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><p>"Robin!"<p>

Robin was sure he was dreaming. He could barely move, and the cold was starting to slow his brain down. Sleep… he just needed to sleep. Then the annoying voice calling his name might go away-

"Bruce! He's in here!"

Why was the voice yelling for Bruce? His blue eyes rolled behind the mask as someone grabbed his shoulders gently and brushed his hair from his face, also brushing dirt from the domino mask covering his eyes. He groaned as someone grabbed him up off the ground, one arm under his knees and the other around his shoulders. His side throbbed mercilessly, and whoever held him was running, not helping the fact that he was in severe pain. As the wound was jostled again, a lightning bolt shot through his body and Robin went limp, falling into oblivion.

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><p>"Wha-"<p>

Robin sat up, feeling the pain still lingering in his side, several tender bruises, the ground beneath him-

wait…

Since when was the ground soft? And warm?

And when did alleys have flat screen TVs in them?

Richard glanced around, realizing he was in his room, his mask gone and several new bandages on several new injuries. He could feel- no need to see it- the black eye he had, as well as the bruises on his jaw; he must've looked like a multi-colored mess.

Slowly standing up, Richard hissed at the pain in his ankle. Twisted at least… great. Good thing it was Saturday… it was Saturday, right?

Whirling around, and instantly regretting it, Dick looked a the clock on the nightstand. Yep, ten twenty in the morning. And a Saturday.

Good.

He grinned, still feeling the pain in his jaw, though it was ebbing away. It was just a minor mishap on patrol; no big deal. In a day or two, he'd be back on patrol- with Batman… last night was a little rocky- and back at Mount Justice kicking Wally's butt at sparring and having to put up with Superboy watching static or another round of Artemis arguing with Wally. Seriously, those two just needed to start dating.

He was still alive, still hanging in there.

So life looked pretty good.

Now if he could just get rid of the blasted stitches…

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><p><em>-this is my first time writing anything for Young Justice, so… what'd you think? any reviews- love it, hate it, i don't care- are appreciated; they make me better at this! i know that Robin getting injured has been done before, but i figured it was as good a starting place as any.<em>

_sorry for any mistakes or typos :(_

_and… if you feel like it, please check out the poll on my profile. i would really like some more input. :)_

_and keeping in mind that today is Veteran's Day, if you see someone who served and defended our country, please thank them. our freedom is nothing we should ever take for granted- it comes with a high cost :( please keep those who have served and currently serve in prayer.  
><em>

_have an awesome day (or night- whatever it is wherever you are) and God bless! :)_


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